Last August, Twitter introduced a new feature in select markets, including the U.S., that invited users to report misinformation they encountered on its platform — including things like election-related or COVID-19 misinformation, for example. Now the company is rolling out the feature to more markets as its test expands. In addition to the U.S., Australia
The first electric bus by Swedish-Kenyan EV startup, Opibus, has hit Kenya’s roads marking the beginning of the company’s venture into the mass transit industry. Opibus first announced plans to roll out electric public transport buses last year when it raised $7.5 million in a pre-Series A round. The startup is now running a pilot
Big banks are under a lot of pressure to modernize their services to meet demands of consumers who now view things like mobile apps that identify who and where you are; or instant, on-demand products, as table stakes — consumers that are in turn increasingly looking at neobanks to give them a better level of
The UK’s ad-fuelled boom in crypto trading looks to be headed for major speed restrictions: The country’s financial watchdog said it will beef up rules around marketing of crypto assets and could even put limits on who can invest, following government confirmation yesterday that it will extend the regulator’s remit to cover crypto. In recent
Fintech startup Revolut is rolling out stock trading in its app in the U.S. The company already lets you buy and sell shares if you’re a British user. And now, Revolut has received approval to become a licensed U.S. broker-dealer in the U.S. Revolut users will be able to trade 1,100 securities, such as shares
After a month-long “break,” Better.com CEO Vishal Garg is back at the helm of the mortgage tech company he co-founded in 2016, according to an internal memo that circulated today that has been shared with TechCrunch. In the memo, the Better board of directors said it was “moving forward with strong, dynamic CEO leadership.” The
Buy now pay later (BNPL) startups are proliferating around the world and the Philippines is no exception. Today, one of the country’s biggest BNPL providers, BillEase, announced it has raised an $11 million Series B. The round was led by BurdaPrincipal Investments, growth capital arm of Hubert Burda Media. Other participants included Centauri, a joint
A new bill seeks to dramatically reshape the online advertising landscape to the detriment of companies like Facebook, Google and data brokers that leverage deep stores of personal information to make money from targeted ads. The bill, the Banning Surveillance Advertising Act, introduced by Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) in the House
After securing a $15 million Series A in August, Walnut, a company that creates sales and marketing demo experiences, is back to announce its new round of $35 million in Series B financing. Walnut’s no-code platform enables teams to create customized product demonstrations quickly, be able to integrate them into their sales and marketing processes
Yoga, personal trainers and other kinds of online coaches have a bewildering array of platforms on which they can launch their class, either in platforms specializing in verticals (PTs) or more general ones. A new UK player hopes – perhaps a little optimistically – hopes to make inroads into this market with a ‘one stop
Late last year, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey stepped down from his position in order to give his full attention to his other company Square, now called Block, which had become increasingly invested in blockchain technology and cryptocurrency — just like Dorsey himself. Now we’re starting to see the results of Block’s embrace of crypto, as
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Even though the only thing the robot can do right now is pull weeds, Aigen is adamant it isn’t building a weed-whacking robot. It claims to be on a mission to terraform the earth, and says it has a path toward making agriculture carbon positive. It must have made a compelling argument, because it just
Maria Lepskaya Contributor Maria Lepskaya is a senior associate at Runa Capital, leading investments in different branches of quantum technologies and advanced materials. Market trends are the best indicators we have to judge the maturity of the quantum industry. While they don’t perfectly reflect technological progress, they showcase investors’ willingness to write checks for the
Snapchat has faced increasing criticism in recent years as the opioid crisis plays out on social media, often with tragic results. In October, an NBC investigation reported the stories of a number of young people aged 13 to 23 who died after purchasing fentanyl-laced pills on Snapchat. Snapchat parent company Snap responded by committing to
Agtonomy co-founder and CEO Tim Bucher was born and raised on a farm and was deep into his own farming business when he took a computer course while at UC Davis and got hooked. It was that parallel agriculture/technology career that led him to start Agtonomy, a hybrid autonomy and tele-assist service startup that turns
European startups collectively raised a record $100 billion+ in funding in 2021, a sign of their swelling ranks, ambitions and stature. Now, a VC in London has closed a record round of funding to cater specifically to that opportunity. Blossom Capital, which makes investments in European startups at the Series A stage, has raised $432
Supply chain issues continue to have a major impact on smartphone manufacturers per newly released figures from analyst firm Canalys — global shipments grew only 1% year over year in the final quarter of 2021. The numbers come on the tail of Q3 reports, which saw an overall drop of 6%, citing similar issues over
Yet more funding is finding its way to Istanbul’s gaming startups. Today, Dream Games — the casual games developer behind the hit game Royal Match — is announcing a $255 million Series C that values the startup at $2.75 billion. This Series C is being led by Index Ventures, with Makers Fund, IVP, funds and
Six months after its $20 million Series A, payroll connectivity platform Pinwheel just announced that it has nabbed another $50 million in a round led by new investor GGV Capital. Pinwheel serves neobanks and fintechs like Block, Acorns, and Current by providing application programming interfaces (APIs) linked to payroll, income, and employment data. Historically, systems
British autonomous vehicle startup Wayve has raised a $200 million Series B funding round from investors to scale its technology and expand its partnerships with commercial fleets. Wayve is aiming to be a major player in the arena of Robo-deliveries and logistics. It’s now raised a total of $258 million to date, for its technology,
In 2020, Africa50, an infrastructure financier backed by the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) Group and a good number of African governments, hosted an innovation challenge that sought affordable and reliable solutions for last-mile internet connectivity across the continent. A proposal by Poa Internet, a Kenyan startup beat 673 others from across the world as a
South Korea-based human resources management platform flex announced today it has closed a $32 million Series B round at a valuation of $298 million. The latest funding, which brings its total raised to $42 million, was led by Greenoaks, with participation from DST Global Partners. The startup’s mission is to enable corporations to automate and
Mio, the Vietnamese social commerce platform, has raised an $8 million Series A, less than a year after announcing its seed round. The funding was led by Jungle Ventures, Patamar Capital and Oliver Jung, with participation from returning investors GGV, Venturra, Hustle Fund, iSEED SEA and Gokul Rajaram. TechCrunch first covered Mio at the time
Amazon appears to have rowed back from a public threat to end support for Visa payments in the UK in a dispute over payment fees. The ecommerce giant sent an email to users of Amazon.co.uk today informing them that the “expected change” — which was due to take place on January 19 — will not
A Canadian startup working at the cutting edge of satellite imaging has raised $4.5 million across a combination of a $2.25 million seed round, and $2.25 million from a combined pre-seed and government funding. Wyvern, which is working specifically on hyperspectral imaging (imaging that captures light across many different wavelengths, including non-visible ones) is also
This morning Rebundle, a hair-focused startup based in St. Louis, announced that it has raised $1.4 million in a pre-seed round. M25, a venture firm with a geographic focus on the Midwest, led the funding event. Prior to its pre-seed round, Rebundle had raised what CEO and co-founder Ciara Imani May described as six-figures worth of
Istanbul has become a city to watch when it comes to casual gaming startups, boosted by the likes of Peak (acquired by Zynga for $1.8 billion) and Dream (valued at $1 billion in a funding round last year). Now, a new startup is announcing a major round of funding to make its own mark on
Burnt Finance is a crypto startup which, as a stunt, burnt a Banksy artwork and but then the NFT they’d minted for it for $400,000, double what it cost on the ‘normal’ open art market. Based on the idea that auctions for NFTs could be improved, it went on to raise $3 million for a
Cash flow is a major pain point for small businesses in Africa. Long payment cycles, which can take 30-90 days after services or products have been rendered, and little or no capital, of which research says 85% of African small and medium businesses are subject to, are the main culprits of cash flow issues. Many